Kent. That from your first of difference and decay, Have follow'd your sad steps, Lear. You are welcome hither. Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and deadly: Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves, Lear. Ay, so I think. Alb. He knows not what he says, and vain is it That we present us to him. Edg. Very bootless. Enter an Officer. Off. Edmund is dead, my lord. Alb. That's but a trifle here. You lords and noble friends, know our intent; To him our absolute power: [To EDGAR and KENT. With boot and such addition as your honours Have more than merited. All friends shall taste The wages of their virtue, and all foes The cup of their deservings. O! see, see! Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Never, never, never, never, never! Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. Edg. [Dies. He faints! My lord, my lord! Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, break! Edg. Look up, my lord. Kent. Vex not his ghost: O! let him pass; he hates him That would upon the rack of this tough world Edg. He is gone, indeed. Kent. The wonder is he hath endured so long: He but usurp'd his life. Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present busi ness Is general woe. [To KENT and EDGAR.] Friends of my soul, you twain Rule in this realm, and the gored state sustain. Edg. The weight of this sad time we must obey; Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most: we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long. [Exeunt, with a dead march |